Wayne E. Dungan

Reverend Wayne E. Dungan reached his heavenly home on Sunday, May 20, 2018.  Pastor Dungan, 93, passed away at Tivoli, Portage, surrounded by family and friends.  He joins his wife, Laura, his parents, and his six sisters and two brothers in heaven. 

He was born July 6, 1924, the son of Dallas and Ola Dungan in Plum Tree, IN.  His family farmed a 40-acre farm, and he often spoke with fondness about his experiences growing up on the farm in the 1930s. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 19 and served on the U.S.S. Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that served in the Pacific during WWII. 

He married Laura B. Tobias on February 14, 1947.  He farmed with his father-in-law until he felt God’s call to the ministry at age 28 and moved his wife and 3-year-old daughter, Pam, to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute. He graduated in 1955 and then attended Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He often spoke of those hard years, marveling at the faithfulness of God and the kindness of friends that saw them through. 

In 1960, he graduated from Northern and by that time was the father of four children.  He accepted a call to the North Scott Baptist Church in Pardeeville. He and Laura were thrilled to be back in the beautiful countryside after living and struggling in Chicago for eight years. He served as pastor there for 26 years and at the time of his passing, had been pastor emeritus for many years.  In addition to pastoring, Pastor Dungan drove school bus for the Pardeeville school district for several years.

In 1986, he left North Scott to serve as pastor of the Judson Baptist Church in Kokomo, IN, where he pastored for five years.  He and Laura then moved back to Portage, and he was interim pastor for churches in Delevan and Tomah, WI, and Muncie and Rantoul in IL before retiring.  He and Laura renewed their vows in 1997, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They enjoyed retirement, spending time with family, gardening, and traveling. Shortly after celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary in 2012, Laura passed away.

Pastor Dungan loved to sing and the day before he died, he was singing hymns with friends.  His family rejoices that he is now singing in heaven. They will miss him greatly, especially his beautiful prayers for them. He was well loved, and they are proud to have had him as their dad.

His final years were spent at Tivoli where he made many friends and provided a cheery presence for the residents and staff.  He enjoyed all the activities and, always the gardener, helped in the planting and maintaining of the garden areas.

He is survived by his four children, Pam (James) Wilcox, Mark (Judy) Dungan, Elizabeth (Daniel) Bolt, and Leslie (Nelson) Soken; 11 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. 

A memorial service celebrating Pastor Dungan’s life will be held on Friday, June 15 at 2 PM at the North Scott Baptist Church.  Visitation will be held from 1 PM until the time of service. The family would like to thank the staff at Tivoli for their loving care of their dad over the past six years.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Tivoli or the North Scott Baptist Church.  

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